US Containment Policy and the Vietnam War Origins
Was Containment the Right Policy?
There was no doubt at all in the USA that communism had to be resisted. Some favored the aggressive policy proposed by MacArthur, that containment was not enough. They wanted the USA to take the fight to the communists and push back the frontiers of communism. Dulles set up a network of anti-communist alliances around the world:
- South-East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), in 1954
- Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), in 1955
The Soviets felt threatened and accused the USA of trying to encircle the communist world.
- In 1955, the Warsaw Treaty Organization, or the Warsaw Pact, was set up between the USSR and all the communist East European countries except Yugoslavia.
Co-existence
The new leader of the USSR, Nikita Khrushchev, seemed to ease tensions with the USA. He talked about peaceful co-existence. After ten years, the leaders met, but they did not achieve anything specific. However, this chat was some improvement. Not all Western leaders were convinced by Nikita; his behavior was a constant reminder of the evils of communism.
- 1956: Protest in Poland due to a rise in food prices, the Red Army intervened
- 1956: The crushing might of the Red Army put down an anti-communist rising in Hungary at the cost of many lives.
- 1961: Communists built the Berlin Wall, dividing the East and the West. The Soviet Union wanted to stop people leaving the East.
The Vietnam War: Origins of the Conflict
Vietnam had been ruled by France and it was called Indochina. France’s rule was unchallenged except for a rebellion in 1930. The first major blow to French power came in 1940 when it was defeated in WWII. The Japanese (Germany’s ally) took control of the main resources in Vietnam. During the war, an anti-communist movement emerged under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh, a remarkable individual. In 1920, he studied communism in the USSR. In 1930, he founded the Indochinese Communist Party, inspiring the Vietnamese to fight for their independence. In 1945, the Viet Minh entered the city of Hanoi and declared Vietnamese Independence. The French came back, wanting to rule Vietnam again. In 1946, war broke out between France and the Viet Minh, who cleverly kept quiet about wanting a communist Vietnam, so countries such as the USA were quite sympathetic to him.
In 1949, the communists took over China and helped Minh, and they were seen as the puppets of Mao Zedong and Chinese communists. They feared a plan to dominate South-East Asia. The USA poured millions into the French war effort and helped them to set up a non-communist government in the South.
The war dragged on from 1946 to 1954. France controlled towns and the Viet Minh, the countryside. The guerrilla tactics made them impossible to beat. French raids against peasant villages only increased support for the Viet Minh.
The Decisive Event at Dien Bien Phu (1954)
Consequences:
- France lost 3,000 dead in battle and 8,000 in captivity
- Viet Minh forces defeated France in open battle with the help of modern weapons from the USSR and China.
- A small Asian state had defeated a rich European state through a combination of effective leadership, the right tactics, and sheer determination.
- At the 1954 peace conference held in Geneva, the country was effectively divided into North and South Vietnam until elections could be held to decide its future.